Madden NFL 19: Expanded Information About Longshot and MUT

Madden NFL 19: Expanded Information About Longshot and MUT

Ben Haumiller sat down with our Matt Llewellyn to talk about this year’s football release from EA, Madden NFL 19. The following is an excerpt from the full interview:

Longshot was a mode that received mixed reviews. It’s back again this year but won’t carry over previous save states. Why was the decision made to do this, and the homecoming theme aside, why is Wade on the Cowboys despite them having a young superstar QB in Dak Prescott?

Ben Haumiller: The Longshot story was really interesting for us last year in that it was our first time doing the story mode experience. Instead of telling a Kurt Warner-style story where he comes from nowhere and leads his team to the Super Bowl, we wanted to look at the other side. What’s the story of the fringe player who’s trying to make the league? We felt that was an interesting take on being a sports-genre story because we knew that we were the last AAA sports title to go with a story mode. We wanted to do something a little bit different and kind of buck the trend from what had been happening in other sports games. I think for certain fans of the game it hit home while for others it didn’t quite hit the mark on what they were looking for from it.

We took a lot of that feedback back, and the number one thing people wanted was they wanted to play more. “More games, more games, more games. Story is great but I want to play a game.” So you’ll see a lot more of Devin now in the NFL playing games, and the Colt storyline has a lot more gameplay as well because you play as both Devin and Colt this year. Wade is still a fringe player so he’s not coming in to take over Dak Prescott’s job. He’s still fighting for a spot on the practice squad, so for us the homecoming ties into the larger story that has always centered around the state of Texas. So it felt like putting Wade on the Cowboys to start the year fit in with that.

Initially, we wanted to have it where how you ended your story in Longshot 1 would carry over into Longshot 2, but there were technical challenges and hurdles we couldn’t overcome that made us have to move away from that. If we’re going to break the reality of not having people picking up from where they left off last season, what are we going to do to make this story the best it can be and make the most sense? For us, it was to use the Cowboys name and still have him be that guy who’s trying to make a roster.

So it’s not that he’s come off of this reality show and he’s setting the world on fire, and he’s now the number one quarterback in Dallas. That’s not the story we wanted to tell. We want to keep this in the reality of the world where he’s still trying to figure out how to be a quarterback He didn’t just get it handed to him because of the experience in season one.

So does the time gap from Wade at the draft to training camp in year two happen because of those technical limitations regarding save carryover?

Ben Haumiller: Right. Season one ends on draft day and that season has already happened, so when Longshot 2 picks up you’re in training camp. So to bridge that time, we kind of do a quick thing to catch you up to what happens in the interim and now you’re back on the Cowboys practice squad to try to make the team.

Last year, after completing Longshot we were rewarded with some MUT cards that tied into Longshot, and in franchise mode Wade and Colt would be defaulted to when creating a certain type of QB and WR respectively. Are there plans to further integrate them into MUT and, perhaps, more tangibly into franchise mode?

Ben Haumiller: It’s actually much more seamless this year, so when you get to the end of Longshot 2 you’ll have the chance to continue Colt’s storyline in Ultimate Team or continue Devin’s storyline in franchise mode. In franchise, if you choose to continue Devin’s storyline you pick up right where the story ends, and you can continue on the rest of your career as Devin in a franchise. It’s all right there. You don’t have to go through and create a late-round quarterback who is mobile and that’s the only way you can get Wade.

Continuing Wade in franchise mode makes his playstyle based on the choices that you made throughout Longshot 2. So maybe you’ll have him come in as more of a Cam Newton-style player or maybe it’s more of a Tom Brady. You’ll be able to make that choice along the way as you make it through the story.

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I'm going to keep saying this about Longshot. This is a pointless mode. There are so many other things that this game needs. For 80% of gamers, franchise is the most important thing, but it gets minimum upgrades each year (sorry, but creating slot corner and slot WR doesn't impress me... you need way more than that).
But instead of giving attention to the mode that most people use, they will instead devote resources to this longshot nonsense. It's almost as if they say "oh, you don't like it? Well, we're going to make you like it whether you like it or not."
This nonsense is fine as an app or maybe limit it to the PC version. I'd be fine with playing longshot when I should be working, of if it were an app, playing it while waiting for my plane to board... but playing at home on my own time? Nope, not happening.

Longshot can be a vital part of Madden. It's uses are limitless and can be integrated into MUT and Franchise to make a more immersive environment for all game modes.
Longshot can be the catalyst to coach and owner offices in Franchise. We could see an expanded locker room environment for players to interact for any number of services which are currently bland UI flat screens. Player homes could be brought into the game where awards and achievements are displayed. The possibilities are numerous.
Replay value can be added through Longshot if the environment, the mode, is expanded properly into the other Madden game modes. Immersion adds replay value in games, along with customization.

Still no interest in MUT here; it's not some sort of anti-card mode thing...I love Diamond Dynasty...but I get super bored with MUT. Until the offline gameplay is built around playing actual full games and not "challenges", I will continue to have zero interest.
Longshot...meh. Played half of it last year...kept waiting for it to get better and it never did. Finally gave up...it wasn't even a "B sports movie"...it was (to me) even worse. I will not be touching it this year.
I'm sure lots of others will be happy about these modes, and I wish them all of the best.

What would ever give you this impression? How many threads do you see where people want to do a deep dive into it or even care that it exists?

It'd be nice if EA would be like other games and release the data that shows what people played, how much they played, what was the mode most returned to, etc.
I know years ago they released a bit of the data that showed where something ridiculous like 80% of users never played a full year in franchise mode and I believe they were questioning if franchise modes were what users wanted. It was like they completely were ignorant to the fact as to how bad their mode was compared to other sports games.

It'd be nice if EA would be like other games and release the data that shows what people played, how much they played, what was the mode most returned to, etc.
I know years ago they released a bit of the data that showed where something ridiculous like 80% of users never played a full year in franchise mode and I believe they were questioning if franchise modes were what users wanted. It was like they completely were ignorant to the fact as to how bad their mode was compared to other sports games.

No different then Fox canceling Lucifer because it has like under 2m viewers. Even though data and stats lie on how many people like a show. If it catters to younger crowed they stream or record it. Where a older crowed for a show watches it live and doesn't have youtube TV or another streaming service.
Statistics lie. I bet you that 20% that played CFM are hardcore and they play Madden every day until the next. Where the other 80% play madden 20hrs or less for a month and play something else.
Also CFM has been unplayable for 5+ years. Madden is basically MuT. I prefer CFM and I play MuT because CFM is lacking, broken, and the AI doesn't challenge me so I have to play MuT and real people.
EA kinda forced MuT players to play Longshot as the rewards early in MuT couldn't be passed up unless you were lots of money spent. I watched TV and grinded longshot and so did my bro. It was 100% torture but we did it for the rewards.